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Fall Courses

Fall 2017 Course Offerings

The Center for Latin American Studies is pleased to offer a wide variety of courses for Fall 2017, ranging in topics from human rights along the US-Mexico border to race in Latin America. For more information on any of the listed courses, please visit https://uaccess.schedule.arizona.edu.

Scroll down to view our exciting, undergraduate course offerings for the fall semester!

An interdisciplinary introduction to the people, places and cultures of Latin America, and to the political, economic and social institutions and conditions of the region. The course examines how and why environmental quality, economic development, living conditions, democracy, migration, trade, religion and US policy vary across different countries and social sectors.

LAS 195A - The US-Mexico Border: From Separation to Integration in a Globalizing World - W 11:00-11:50am, 8/21/17-12/06/17

This colloquium serves as an introduction to the complexities of the local border reality and prepares students to better appreciate the challenges and opportunities facing the region from a variety of perspectives. Though not exclusive, areas of concern include history, trade, education, environment, tourism, culture, migration and security. Guest speakers representing the different border region constituencies will complement the class lectures and discussions.

Survey of the political forces and social groups important in shaping contemporary Latin America; examination of Indians, slaves, peasants, landlords, labor, the middle sectors, and the millitary; discussion of theories of instability.

The course will focus on the specific characteristics of the current conflict by learning about President Felipe Calderón's approach to combating organized crime, the involvement of the ATF and DEA in Mexico, and the important Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). We will also discuss the Peace Movement in Mexico and the work that is being done to change the course of the conflict. We will discuss the social issues embedded in this conflict and arrive at complex understandings of the role of drugs and violence in contemporary society.

This course offers a general introduction to contemporary Latin America from the perspective of political economy. It will focus on structural factors to help explain the main political, social and economic trends in the region. The overall goal of the course is to provide the basic, historical tools for understanding the current challenges the region confronts.

The American immigration and border enforcement systems have undergone radical changes in the last several

decades and have become flashpoints of controversy across the political spectrum. Using a human rights frame, this class will take a critical look at the development of these policies and the ways in which they have impacted immigrants and their families. Using the latest scholarship and recent in-depth journalism, we will explore the component policies of these complicated systems, their dramatic consequences for undocumented and documented people alike, and possible avenues for change within a human rights framework.

This course examines the panorama of human rights struggles in Latin America. How has Latin America contributed to global human rights theory and practice? What explains the horrific human rights abuses that took place in Latin America during the Cold War? How have Latin American societies grappled with the aftermath of political violence? This course will examine how Latin American countries have dealt with such issues as democratic reform, human rights, memorialization and justice reform. The course will use Latin American film to explore the key themes of human rights, dictatorship and democracy in the region. In-depth case studies will include the genocide trials in Guatemala, contemporary US-Cuba relations, social memory projects in South America, and contemporary indigenous movements.

This course examines the wide variety of causal explanations for deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon and the policy proposals offered by Latin American and North American political scientists, economists, historians, anthropologists, geographers, ecologists, journalists, and environmental activists.